Guys, I have ZERO experience with CNC. I know what it is, I know what they do, I know what it stands for, then I'm done. I'm looking for something that can do text engraving on a very small scale, think "dog tag" size. Extreme accuracy is not a critical factor here, although accuracy is certainly a consideration. Since I'm a total CNC 'tard please give me some recommendations. I'm looking for something cheap, used possibly, that I can turn out a few hundred items with. Can someone steer me in the right direction? Products? Brand names? Trade secrets?
perhaps a trophy store can help - they use a pantograph, but there must be a programmable setup for multiples of identical phraseology. If they can't do it, it's likely they know someone that does.
Most of the new fangled pet stores have a dog tag engravers kiosk thing on site. It's like a Coke machine with a computer screen that you go through steps on, then it engraves the tag with all your pertinent info, and spits it out. May want to check on the back of one of them for a manufacturers name.
Daddio, There is a lot to take into account. The biggest question is, are you willing to build one yourself or do you just want to buy one that is basically plug and play? The reason I ask is your money can go really far, more machine for your money , if you are willing to do the work of putting one together yourself. I understand if youre just looking to buy one and get right down to business and not build one. I have not had any interaction with already manufactured hobby cnc mills. Mine at work are of the large variety cncs so I cant direct you to a pre made machine. I do, however, currently have two machines that I am building. A larger one that I am down to just finishing the pcbs for the drivers and controller that will be for castings and casting patterns, and a smaller one that I think would be exactly what you are looking for. It has a build size of 4x6 and Z height of 1 3/4 . It is a variation of one an MIT guy was working on.(Photo down below) It really is much more stout than you can believe. I am building this one just strictly for making pcbs and to do engraving. It can easily be built for less than $500, and $500 will not buy you much of a cnc thats more than just a toy. Also a great free program for engraving is called Desk Engrave saves directly to both dxf and g code. I dont know if any of this has been of any use but I would be happy to answer any questions if you want to pm me. Smokey My small MIT machine is still in pieces but here is a photo of a completed one from their site to give you a look at a compleated one.
Smokey, thanks so much for the info! I'd be willing to build my own at a future date, but right now I need something quick and simple that my wife can operate. I'm all about building a custom machine but I would certainly need to have experience on something else to know what's good, what's bad, and what needs improvement! Post pics of what you're building please. I'm really intrigued!
I dont know how much your going to do but you don't need a CNC if your making a engraving plate . You can do photo engraving. look at this vidio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2jYwZZEl-U&list=UU6wPog0EFty3ld5afJi0HZw&index=50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-m78oFlMo&list=UU6wPog0EFty3ld5afJi0HZw&index=51 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F62308blYw&list=UU6wPog0EFty3ld5afJi0HZw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgmLfXMd2y4&list=UU6wPog0EFty3ld5afJi0HZw
Thanks man. This project really needs to be tool or router engraved, for lack of a better term. I've watched the first of the four videos and will watch the last three later. I think this is somewhat similar to the process Ryan uses on our Alliance Tags, minus stamping our names, so I know what nice quality these can produce. Unfortunately for us, each plate will be different and we need to spend as little time on each as possible, so photo etching won't be economical this time. Still, we may find some really great uses for this, so thanks for sharing!
I understand, Have you looked on ebay? You will spend atleast $20,000 on something that you can dump a cad file into and run. There is alot cheeper cnc's out there but won't work very well. Don't buy a machine with stepper motors.
Here is a link I think you will be interested in. http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_category.php?category=1241045623 Regards, Brian
I used to work part time for a sign maker, and he used manual pantographs. They will do the job you need without a high expense. You can probably pick one up somewhere for less than 100$, and they made ALL different sizes of machines, from a laptop sized one, to a Bridgeport size. Be sure to get the lettering templates when you buy it!
I took a CNC course and we had desk top machines. I made a steering wheel center cap with the "Metropolitan" script for the Nash I was working on. Might be one in the back room of a tech school somewhere. Blue
i am new to CNC machining as of the fall of 2010 when i returned to school. i have been in the trade now for over a year and have now landed a toolroom job which is exactly where i wanted to end up... in terms of investment, you must think of maximum machine return for the money you are willing to lay out. if you are willing to get on the learning curve towards cnc anyway, it seems what you propose would be a fairly expensive rig for the very light and limited type of work that it could perform for your investment dollar. you would also be into some kind of CAM program as well, so if you ponied up the cash, you would be money ahead not purchasing a package that was hobbled to only create text. my point is that you would likely be money ahead by purchasing a 3-axis Bridgeport-type knee mill retrofitted with CNC. this, and a good CAM program like GibbsCAM would allow you to take on many more types of work in order to pay off your investment sooner. there are many older Bridgeport "copies" out there that are already CNC rigs, have good bones (tight box-ways, ballscrews etc.); but have outdated controls. there are now quite a few options for personal computer-based machine control software that can easily make these machines more user friendly. as far as GibbsCAM goes, i cant say enough good things about it; I use it every day and find it to be very intuitive and geared towards the machinist, as opposed to the engineer. Gibbs has a very good text creation tool, is easy to import in dxf and other files for art etc, and is not fussy about tool geometry. it will easily engrave with spot drills, center drills, etc. good luck in your endeavors.
One word: MAKINO Second: PowerMill 2012 Cheap: No way! Thats what I run to cut all these fancy automotive headlights and tail lights. Honestly a cnc table-top router with a basic CAM software is all you need. I would look at what trophey engravers use. Always ad's in popular mechanic etc. also, I know a lot of times we are using laser etching for hard to access vehicle part information numbers ("I.D.") sometimes they put this ID in hard to machine spot's so we have to send it out to put ID in. Brent
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